These easy keto crab cakes make a wonderful low carb appetizer or main course. Sweet chunks of blue crab combined with fresh herbs, spices and just enough filler to hold it all together – it’s one of my favorite meals!
This keto crab cakes recipe is an update of a post I wrote in the early days of this website back in 2012. I’ve made a couple of small tweaks to the recipe itself, and I’ve also added some tips to help make sure they come out perfect every time.
Table of Contents
- What kind of crab meat is best for crab cakes?
- Ingredients you will need
- Equipment you will need
- Instructions
- Storage Information
- Serving Suggestions
- Variations and Substitutions
- More Keto Crab Recipes
My love of crab cakes knows no bounds. If I’m in a restaurant and there are crab cakes on the menu, then I’m ordering them. No questions asked.
Unfortunately, at least 50% of the time it seems to end in disappointment.
A great crab cake (keto or otherwise) should consist of mostly good quality crab meat, and have very little breading holding it together.
When done right, it’s sweet and delicate and absolutely wonderful. When done wrong, it’s a fishy tasting bread puck with barely any discernible crab pieces to be found – a travesty and a crime against seafood.
Enter these delicious keto crab cakes – which are just as good or better then most crab cakes you’ll find in a restaurant…
Because the best (and most economical) way to ensure that you are getting high quality and delicious crab cakes is to make them yourself at home.
These keto crab cakes are so easy to make, that there is really no excuse not to make them yourself when the craving for crab cakes strikes. Which, if you’re like me, is often.
I like to enjoy these keto crab cakes with my creamy keto roasted red pepper sauce. It’s a perfect match in my opinion, but not required if you’re not a fan of the flavor of roasted red peppers.
What kind of crab meat is best for crab cakes?
Typically, blue crab is used for crab cakes. You can find it in the seafood section, usually in 8 ounce plastic cups that are refrigerated. That will taste the best without actually catching the crabs yourself.
You can also get frozen blue crab if you don’t live in an area where fresh crab is readily available – the quality is slightly inferior to fresh, but still good.
When choosing blue crab at the supermarket, there will be several varieties and price points.
Lump crab is the best and most desirable for these keto crab cakes, but also the most expensive option.
Claw meat is cheaper and not as sweet, but will work just fine for this recipe. If you’re doubling it to serve to a crowd, I recommend a 50/50 split between lump and claw meat to keep costs down while still maximizing quality, which is what I usually do.
As an alternative to blue crab, you can use Dungeness, King, or even snow crab in these keto crab cakes and it will be delicious.
Never use canned crab from the tuna fish aisle in crab cakes – it will have terrible texture and flavor.
Ingredients you will need
- Good quality crab meat (see notes above)
- Mayonnaise (I find this holds them together better then eggs)
- Fresh lemon juice (I beg you not the bottled stuff)
- Dijon mustard
- Parsley
- Coconut flour
- Old Bay Seasoning
- Avocado oil for frying
Equipment you will need
A bowl and a nonstick frying pan are really all you need to make this keto crab cakes recipe!
Instructions
- Combine all of the crab cake ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix gently so as not to break up the pieces of crab.
- Form into cakes.
- Fry.
- Serve warm.
Storage Information
Seafood doesn’t keep long leftover, so I recommend not storing these crab cakes for more than three days in the refrigerator. Keep them in an airtight container so your entire fridge doesn’t smell like crab.
Reheat them gently in the microwave for 1 – 2 minutes, or in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 – 10 minutes just to get them heated all the way through.
I don’t recommend freezing these keto crab cakes, as the texture would not be ideal after thawing and reheating.
Serving Suggestions
- As mentioned above, my favorite way to serve these is with my keto red pepper sauce.
- The recipe makes 4 servings as an appetizer, or 2 servings as a main course.
- For a lunch or brunch portion, these work really well with a simple salad of arugula or spring greens dressed with my keto lemon vinaigrette – and save a splash of the vinaigrette to drizzle over the crab cakes as well.
- If you’re serving these keto crab cakes for a cocktail party or event, you can make the cakes even smaller as a bite-sized portion of about 1-inch in diameter and pass them on a platter with just a dot of sauce on the top. This recipe should make about 24 cakes in miniature.
Variations and Substitutions
- For different crab meat options see the notes above on what type of crab meat to use.
- Dijon mustard contains trace amounts of white wine, if doing the Whole30 or if strictly avoiding alcohol for any other reason, replace the dijon mustard with another yellow mustard. If doing Squeaky Clean Keto, the dijon mustard is acceptable because the amounts of wine are so slight.
- Worcestershire sauce contains small amounts of molasses and sugar, so if doing the Whole30 or Squeaky Clean Keto you can replace it with Coconut Aminos to stay compliant.
- If coconut flour is a problem for you, it can be replaced with almond flour as a binder. Crushed pork rinds can also be used, but may impact the flavor negatively so it should be a last resort.
- The mayonnaise can be replaced with 2 tablespoons of beaten egg, but I prefer the mayonnaise because it holds the crab cakes together better in my opinion.
More Keto Crab Recipes
Keto Crab Cakes – Low carb, gluten free
- Total Time: 16 minutes
- Yield: 8 crab cakes 1x
- Diet: Diabetic
Description
An easy keto crab cake recipe that is simple to make, but tastes impressive enough for company! Works as is for an appetizer for four people, or make into 4 larger cakes as a main course for two people.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces blue crab meat, drained (lump preferred, see notes on crab)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (or 2 teaspoons coconut aminos)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, for frying
Instructions
- Gently pick through the crab to make sure there are no shells or cartilage in the meat, and add to a small bowl.
- In another small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and dijon mustard, mixing until smooth.
- In a third bowl, combine the old bay, parsley, and coconut flour, mixing thoroughly.
- Gently add the mayonnaise mixture to the crab, folding until combined.
- Then add the dry ingredients to the crab mixture and gently mix. Try not to break up/shred the pieces of crab too much.
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a nonstick saute pan. Form 8 small cakes, about 2 inches in diameter, and place carefully in the hot oil.
- Cook for about 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown.
- Remove from the pan to a plate lined with paper towels.
- Serve warm with lemon wedges and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.
Notes
Approximate net carbs per serving = 2g.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Category: Keto Seafood Recipes
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 crab cakes
- Calories: 130
- Fat: 8g
- Carbohydrates: 3g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 12g
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Sara Brown says
Gross amount of
Old bay. Made me gag so salty
Mellissa Sevigny says
Perhaps you measured wrong? I have made these many times and they are never too salty. ??
Kimberly says
Hello, I don’t have any coconut flour, so I wonder if carbquik will work?
Janette says
Did not enjoy, the coconut overtook the freshly caught blue swimmer crab flavour and they also fell apart. I should have gone with my own expertise to ensure they didn’t fail. But I tried for my partner doing Keto at the moment.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Sorry you didn’t enjoy these Janette – they are delicate but shouldn’t fall apart, not sure what happened there. Unfortunately on keto there aren’t a lot of options for binding and I don’t find the coconut flour to have a noticeable flavor with the other seasonings added in. Hopefully you can find something that works better for you.
Stephanie L. says
Tasted okay, but even after following the directions to the letter.. the cakes fell apart in the pan. Everything turned to a crumbly mess, I couldn’t even flip. How do people get fully formed, solid cake patties from this?? Disappointed. 🙁
Sarah says
Mine too… 😩
Steven Gary Crowder says
I know what you mean , many times the bind does not want to work!! so I always roll in flour before frying. let the flour dry 10-30 mins before frying. I learned this on my own from making salmon patties.
Kris says
So yummy!
rachel says
These were SO delicious! I think next time, I will cut the amount of Old Bay in half, but my husband and I agreed that this was a keeper. Thank you!
Thomas Blake says
These keto crab cakes are so easy to make, that you don’t even need to bother with the directions. Just pop them into the oven and they will come out perfect every time.
Mellissa Sevigny says
You can use either oil Debra, but this is a recipe I updated from way back when I used to use coconut oil before avocado oil was widely available. I forgot to change the oil but it was always good when I made it that way too.
Cyndi says
OMG, these are sooooo good! I made a few substitutions because it’s what I had on hand. I didn’t have old bay seasoning but used Slap ya Mama cajun seasoning. Spicy but yummy! Also didn’t have fresh lemon juice but the bottled lemon juice worked just fine. The hardest part was not eating all of them in one sitting! I live alone sooooo. They held together fine for me. I did not disturb them until ready to flip. The bigger you make them the harder it will be to flip. Mine were about 3 inches across. They are delicate but that makes them so nice to eat.
Thanks for another great recipe!
l p says
thanks for the idea and recipe.